On the Westside, several infrastructure upgrade projects began in 2012, but none as important or visible as the replacement of the Hurricane Deck bridge at the 35 mile marker. Built just five feet to the east of the current bridge, the bridge connects Camdenton to Sunrise Beach and Laurie and is the main route to Versailles. Local government official gathered with MoDOT officials on May 4 to break ground, but the entire project is not expected to be complete until 2014. During the meantime, traffic has not been affected, but that might change in January as MoDOT will close the bridge for up to 15 minutes at a time four to eight times per day.

Bomb threat pushes school safety to the forefront

At the conclusion of 2012, dialog on safety in American schools took a higher priority than ever before. Lake area schools weren't exempt from increased conversation on safety following a national catalyst — the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. — and a local catalyst — a bomb threat that evacuated Camdenton High School on Tuesday, Nov. 27. While the threat of a bomb turned out to be a hoax — two juveniles were later identified as the culprits — Camdenton School District officials sat down to review school security and the School of the Osage District amended a bond issue to included greater security measures.

Voters in Macks Creek choose to dissolve town

It began as a disagreement over who maintains the roadways in a small, western Camden County town and ended with a city officially eliminated from Camden County. Many Macks Creek residents vehemently supported the dissolution of the town and even held a dissolution parade to get the ball rolling. Voters decided in August to officially disband the town and turn over governance to Camden County. The dissolution process began shortly after the primary election and although it is moving forward, disincorporating the small community is proving a slow and challenging process.